New Jersey’s 8,000 electronic voting machines must not be used on Nov. 2 because they are unreliable, a group of residents and elected officials will charge in a suit to be filed today in Trenton.

More than 3 million voters in 15 of the Garden State’s 21 counties are slated to use the electronic machines – but critics say that the units don’t provide a paper record of the vote, making a physical recount impossible.

He said that New Jersey demands that the computer code from slot machines be registered with the state. “But not these voting machines,” said Gusciora, one of the parties in the suit.

Electronic voting machines have already prompted dozens of lawsuits all over the country.

But makers of electronic systems have said their equipment will prevent a repeat of the fiasco four years ago, when Florida election officials held punch-cards under magnifying glasses to determine voter intent.

Early voting on Florida’s new ATM-style, touch-screen voting machines got off to a rocky start yesterday with machines failing in nine of 14 voting sites in Broward County.

Poll workers were forced to call the main office to determine if some voters had already cast their ballot.

A brief computer crash in Orange County paralyzed voting in Orlando and its suburbs.